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He does have a point.
“Lawyer Romulo Macalintal, who represented the Catholic church in previous cases, said commercial establishments should also heed the call of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle not to use welcome banners for Pope Francis for their own interests,” reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
The report noted: “In a statement, Macalintal cited establishments along EDSA that have already displayed billboards with their companies’ logos under the pretext of welcoming Pope Francis.”
Macalintal said, “These establishments should know that such commercial gimmickry runs counter to the standards of ethical advertisement as it is clearly using the spiritual visit of the Pope for the promotion of their companies or products.”
He added: “With their apparent intention to advertise their products, these companies are no different from politicians who were warned by Cardinal Tagle not to use the occasion for political purposes. They are obviously using the Pope’s holy and religious visit to the Philippines for commercial purposes.”
In closing, Macalintal offered a suggestion to those who are thinking of putting up similar banners. “I am sure Pope Francis would highly appreciate it more if these commercial establishments had instead donated the millions of pesos spent for such huge billboards to the victims of typhoon Yolanda which was the main objective of the pontiffs’ visit to our country,” he pointed out.
Photo: Romulo Macalintal (via ABS-CBNnews.com)
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